Business And Economy

October 30, 2015

Madame Christine Lagarde

Managing Director

International Monetary Fund

Washington, D.C. 20431

USA

Dear Madame Lagarde:

1. The Sierra Leone economy has suffered tremendous hardship in 2014 and 2015 because of the adverse impact of two significant exogenous shocks: the Ebola epidemic and a severe crisis in the iron ore sector. The shocks have eroded some of the progress we made in recent years in social and economic areas, and have generated new challenges for policy implementation and economic prospects.

By Tanu Jalloh

A direct flight from Gatwick Airport in London, United Kingdon to Freetown, Sierra Leone, has commenced but questions of sustainability have emerged given the records of the private company that operates the Boeing 757 aircraft.

According to an official source “Fly Salone Airlines Ltd was set up on 18 Aug 2015. Its current status is listed as ‘Active’ and it currently has 2 directors. The company's first directors were Mr Haitham Sabrah, Mr Jihad El Saleh. Fly Salone Airlines Ltd has no subsidiaries.”

By Tanu Jalloh

Sierra Leone government has confessed to making bad judgments and exhibited indiscretion that badly hurt the banking sector of the country through its failure to service loans owed to two commercial banks.

 By Tanu Jalloh

I have always had issues with government estimates and projections as they relate to economic growth and expansion, national and project budget requirements, and investments in the public and private sectors. There seems to have been no regard for the implications on the electorate to be more appropriate.

Despite notable progress, the underlying drivers of fragility continue to pose significant downside risks for the country’s development. High rates of youth unemployment, at 70%, gender inequality, high levels of perceived and real corruption, weak human and institutional capacities and poor economic governance systems, especially public financial management (PFM) and revenue management systems, constrain the Government’s capacity to implement its development agenda.

By Tanu Jalloh

At the turn of the year and in the final issue of Politico for 2014, I had argued that if the government didn’t streamline its policies to address pressing needs that were beingengendered by the flagging state of affairs, it may not be able to pacify the public when the post Ebola economic recovery slows down in the years to come. And it will certainly be difficult for the government alone to surmount the challenges. It needs help. And badly too.

By Tanu Jalloh

The last time I looked at the financial sector of the economy of Sierra Leone was when in November 2013 it became obvious that somebody had to draw attention to an emergent banking sector, but one that was prone to financial security challenges amidst regulatory incapacity.